James Gallagher

i have been really busy lately

Published on May 17, 2020

“I have been really busy lately.”

I have started to notice just how much this excuse is used, not just by other people, but also by me. I was messaging with someone earlier today and I realized that I hadn’t reached out to them in a while. How did I justify not reaching out? “I have been busy.”

The topic of being busy is one that I think a lot about, and I have written about it in the past. My overarching thesis is that if you really want to do something, you can find the time to do it. Thus, “being busy” is not an excuse.

When I think about how I spend my days, I don’t want to be busy. I want to be engaged in working on the right tasks -- the ones that provide me with value.

There will always be things that slip through the cracks. That is an inevitable part of life. You need to prioritize some things over others in order to get the important work done. Yet it is easy to forget about what the important work actually is, in favor of trying to just get more done at all costs.

If I am talking with someone and use the term “busy,” I want to start taking a moment to reflect on what I have really been busy doing. I will have done a lot of work, but have I really done so much that I haven’t been able to make the time for something? Or is it just the case that a certain activity has not been a priority for me.

My goal is to focus on what matters each day. Today I worked on a small side project, because refining my coding skills matters to me. I am writing this blog post because it matters. I would rather be doing these things than almost anything else right now. But, how much of my days are spent doing things that don’t really matter? This is a question that should always be in the back of my mind.